We begin this blog with a heroic tale...
Fortunately, my mother had brought within her purse a single reusable bag, though this was surely not sufficient for our desired foodstuffs. The lady at the checkout counter proceeded to bag the remainder of our goods with non other than plastic bags!
Don’t worry folks, crises averted. Though the environmental impact of not taking those three plastic bags was relatively small, so was the additional effort required, and I’m willing to do it again every time. Bringing reusable bags is certainly the way to go, but when forgotten, the individual transportation of items is usually not too difficult, (since we have shopping carts and cars to cover the distance.) Plastic bags are not intolerable in every situation, but most of the time they are unnecessary, wasteful, and can be easily avoided.
The manner in which we use plastic bags is infuriating. Do you realize what goes into making a plastic bag? We drill deep into the earth and extract the nonrenewable resources; petroleum (thick, black oil) and natural gas. These materials get shipped to refineries, where they are melted down, broken apart, combined with other materials, and then recombined into small pellets. The pellets go through the process of extrusion, where they are heated to 340 degrees Celsius, and pushed through a template. Then they’re flattened, cooled, cut to specifications, and printed on, before being shipped all over the world.
And what do we use them for? Getting groceries from the cash register to the car, and the car into the house. At times not even that! People will buy a candy bar and a soda, which they eat on the way out of the store, yet they insist on taking a bag, so that they can throw it directly into the trash. Once plastic bags reach the trash, they are shipped to landfills where they are destined to rot for... 500 years? 1000 years? There are different estimates.
Plastic bags are ridiculously wasteful, and most people don’t even realize it. Why would you take a bag for your soda and candy bar, which you eat on the way out? Because the bag is there, and its free, and before you can even consider where it’s come from and what you’re going to use it for, it’s already been filled by the cashier worker.
The accepted, established, norm is that plastic bags are a necessary part of daily life. The cheapness and availability of plastic bags allows them to be used without discretion, without hesitation, prompting unprecedented production, and unbelievable waste.
The plastic bag is not the enemy. It has its value, it has its time and place. But the way we use plastic bags is intolerable, irresponsible, and needs to change. Bring your own bags, and if you don’t have them, carry your own products! Be creative, be resourceful. Set an example for others. Put some effort into crafting a sustainable lifestyle, rather than submissively accepting what is convenient. We’re talking about tiny efforts too make a significant change. Plastic’s a problem, we can do better.
Earlier this week my mother and I voyaged to the grocery store in search of house-hold provisions. Bringing reusable bags into the store had not occurred to me until the checkout counter was upon us, and alas! Twas too late.
Fortunately, my mother had brought within her purse a single reusable bag, though this was surely not sufficient for our desired foodstuffs. The lady at the checkout counter proceeded to bag the remainder of our goods with non other than plastic bags!
Overcome with a surge of environmental righteousness, I intervened. Rejecting the bags, we instead placed each item individually into the cart, whereupon they were transported to our automobile, and eventually to our home.
Don’t worry folks, crises averted. Though the environmental impact of not taking those three plastic bags was relatively small, so was the additional effort required, and I’m willing to do it again every time. Bringing reusable bags is certainly the way to go, but when forgotten, the individual transportation of items is usually not too difficult, (since we have shopping carts and cars to cover the distance.) Plastic bags are not intolerable in every situation, but most of the time they are unnecessary, wasteful, and can be easily avoided.
The manner in which we use plastic bags is infuriating. Do you realize what goes into making a plastic bag? We drill deep into the earth and extract the nonrenewable resources; petroleum (thick, black oil) and natural gas. These materials get shipped to refineries, where they are melted down, broken apart, combined with other materials, and then recombined into small pellets. The pellets go through the process of extrusion, where they are heated to 340 degrees Celsius, and pushed through a template. Then they’re flattened, cooled, cut to specifications, and printed on, before being shipped all over the world.
And what do we use them for? Getting groceries from the cash register to the car, and the car into the house. At times not even that! People will buy a candy bar and a soda, which they eat on the way out of the store, yet they insist on taking a bag, so that they can throw it directly into the trash. Once plastic bags reach the trash, they are shipped to landfills where they are destined to rot for... 500 years? 1000 years? There are different estimates.
Plastic bags are ridiculously wasteful, and most people don’t even realize it. Why would you take a bag for your soda and candy bar, which you eat on the way out? Because the bag is there, and its free, and before you can even consider where it’s come from and what you’re going to use it for, it’s already been filled by the cashier worker.
The accepted, established, norm is that plastic bags are a necessary part of daily life. The cheapness and availability of plastic bags allows them to be used without discretion, without hesitation, prompting unprecedented production, and unbelievable waste.
The plastic bag is not the enemy. It has its value, it has its time and place. But the way we use plastic bags is intolerable, irresponsible, and needs to change. Bring your own bags, and if you don’t have them, carry your own products! Be creative, be resourceful. Set an example for others. Put some effort into crafting a sustainable lifestyle, rather than submissively accepting what is convenient. We’re talking about tiny efforts too make a significant change. Plastic’s a problem, we can do better.
